US and A...

Hello? Anyone there?.... Does this thing still work?!

I hope everyone/anyone reading this is well, and once again, apologies for my absence. I've been super busy of late! Along with the usual weekly events of climbing, work, climbing, photography and more climbing the most exciting thing that has happened to me recently has been my trip to America! Woo! I mention this now, as tonight, I have officially finished uploading (the best) of my photos to Flickr! It's taken me almost longer to edit and upload my shots that the amount of time I actually spent Stateside! However, this is good, as it means that I have been able to enjoy the trip for a lot longer, and now I feel slightly sad that it is officially over. Ho hum. The two week, 1, 500 mile trip began for Snoo and I in Denver, CO. From there we headed west to Moab, Utah then onto Grand Canyon, AZ, Las Vegas, NV (where we met up with Benny who would stay with us for the rest of the trip) onto Yosemite, CA and finally winding up on the coast at San Francisco. It certainly seemed like a lot longer than two weeks with a whole multitude of climbing, photography and exploring getting done. I really feel like I've experienced a good chunk of the western United States and I can't wait to return!


Anyway, the full set is available to view on Flickr and contains a mix of shots take with my trust DSLR, as as my Holga and my Polaroid. Yes, I really was in my element! Enjoy!

Autostitching...

Hello all, long time, no post, eh? Sorry about that. I've been super busy recently and it doesn't really look like it'll be letting up soon at any time either. I really need to sit down and sort out what needs doing and get it into some semblance of an order... Anyway, I'm sure you're no really all that interested in my inability to time manage. No? I thought not.

Perhaps this would be more interesting. Over the past couple of months I've really been making an effort to learn the technical aspects of using my camera. Previously, I've not been too happy with he out comes of my attempts at night photography with my 400D. They always seemed to come out over exposed and lacking something which my PowerShot A510 seemed to handle with ease. So, I finally bit the bullet, refreshed my memory of all those rules my Dad ingrained (or at least tried to ingrain) in me from an early age and ventured into the word of the unknown which is the Manual mode! Shock horror! I certainly paid off. I also invested in a decent tripod giving me far more scope to get the image I wanted instead of the image I was limited to. Armed with my new gear and my new knowledge I've been revisiting old haunts around London with a view to capturing them in all their true glory that my DSLR should be capable off. Here's a few of my recent efforts...
My new tripods has also afforded me the luxury of being able to make some perfect joiners (as shown here). The two shots above are four or five shots stitched together with a fantastic bit of free software called Autostitch. Feed the right photos into it, and Autostitch can provide you with totally seamless joiners! I'm hooked! I can't wait to get out again and capture the world in it's full panoramic beauty.

Oh, Christmas Tree...

Seasons greetings, blog fans. I hope you're all full of the joys of the festive season. Here's some photos...

Turn on the bright lights...

Turn on the bright lights... originally uploaded by Ben Grubb

One of the reasons I love winter time - you have so much more opportunity to shoot after dark...

f1.8

I've borrowed a really nice f1.8/50mm prime lens off of my friend Ben recently. It's an absolute beauty! I'm a big fan of shooting at night, and this lens makes it even easier and more pleasurable still. I had a little wander around Soho etc on Sunday night, to see what I could get it to do. I kept the camera set on aperture priority and stopped it right down to f1.8 the whole time. It's great being able to shoot, hand held, so easily in those conditions and achieving some crazy DoF! It's really good fun, and I'll definitely be saving up my pennies to get one of my own in the new year...

I've uploaded some of the best from the outting to Flickr.

Pole to pole...

Pole to pole... Originally uploaded by Ben Grubb

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 18

I haven't done of these for a while, so I thought it was about time! We've been having some really beautiful evenings recently, so I took the opportunity one night last week, as I had my camera with me, to walk home along the river down to Waterloo. As usual when I do this, it ends up being a case of not so much walking home, as going-out-taking-photos-for-what-seems-like-an-hour-until-you-realise-it's-9 o'clock! Anyway, here's a few that I was pleased with - Autumn's well and truely in the air now...

All in all it was a really good session. One downside was, that since by the time I'd made it to Big Ben is was nearly dark, I decided to stay out and try out the new camera with some night shots - However, my camera doesn't seem to want to play ball in regards to this as, after getting it all set up on the tripod, with a lovely compostion of the London Eye in the view finder, the battery decided to die on me. Again.

Ah well, those long nights are only just round the corner...

Also last week, Amy and I were sent out to take some photos for work. It was nice to have a morning out of the office, but I have to admit that the subject matter wasn't really all that inspiring. However, a few personal shots did slip through the net that I was much happier with...

Joining the Kew...

Yesterday, Snoo and I ventured out on the District Line to Kew Gardens. I'd been recommended that I go there on account of it's photographability (I'm claiming that as a word!). It certainly didn't let me down...




There's some more in a set on Flickr.

We were there for about three hours, and barely scratched the surface really - The place is huge! We were certainly all walked out by the time we got home. We also brought a little piece of the Gardens home with us (not literally, I hasten to add!). Say hello to Vera (Snoo's) and Milligan (mine)...



It's like having a inanimate and spiky pet which is quite exciting.

Mug...

I have no idea why, but this dis-used cup and plate in the Window of Starbucks really caught my eye...

Busted, Broken, Forgotten...

A triptych of broken windows from a derelict building we saw will on our walk along the canal near St. Johns Wood last Saturday...

Speaking of Photography, Lorna's hubby Steve has got himself a new (and very interesting) photography blog - Check it out! http://photographyisforlosers.blogspot.com/

A day at the beach...

Last weekend, Snoo and I headed down to Plymouth for the wedding of Luke and Lydia (now both O'Neill). It was a beautiful weekend and, seen as we had some free time on our hands, we went to see what the town had to offer (and I think you know what that means...)

Sadly, Plymouth fell a bit short on the beach front, so on Sunday (after a rather welcome full English...) we decided to head up the coast to Dawlish. This prooved to be far more picturesque, and gave us some opportunity to soak up some of the sun and sea...

...This also gave us the perfect chance to try out some rock balancing! It's certainly very tricky, but great fun and rather theraputic - Here's a few of our better efforts.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 17

Sorry this is late - I've been so busy again! (That's a good thing, don't get me wrong!).

Anyway, we've finally had a bit of sun, so last Saturday (August 4th) Amy and I went out to explore Brick Lane. There certainly is a lot of it to explore as well. It was an absolutely scorching day, without a cloud in the sky, and perfect for photos. I'm starting to get the feel for the 400D now...




There's a load more on Flickr as per usual. Also, check out Amy's new page as well - She's very talented!

(Oh, I almost forgot - We saw Dave Gorman having his lunch in a cafe on Brick Lane as well! I was very excited! I didn't speak to him though, as I didn't want to spoil his day...)

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 16

Monday night was the first (official) outting for my new camera! It's all very exciting. It's taking some getting used to, and I definitely have a lot to learn about it (especially in low light conditions) but when it works, you really cannot fault it, as the results show. I foresee many hours of fun being had in the future...




I am slowly adding the best of the nearly 200 strong bunch to Flickr.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 15

Last Sunday, Snoo, Teresa and I walked from London Bridge to Canary Wharf. For a change, we went along the North Bank which made for an interesting change of scenery. Naturally, my camera came along for the ride...



Flickr fun and games...

Origins of Symmetry...

This seems to be becoming a photography blog... Don't get me wrong, that's certainly no bad thing! But I just feel something of a fraud considering the URL. It has to be said though, that I've always thought that the two aren't mutually exclusive - especially in my work. Either way, I hope that you (the "Royal You"...) are enjoying what I have to offer. I've had two very successful trips out with the camera recently, and it's certainly reaffirmed my love of the different forms of creativity I partake in.

Anyway, waxing lyrical aside, lets get down to business. I've been playing with the idea of mirroring and stitching on Photoshop, after seeing some pictures by Dave Gorman (that man is supremely talented!). I tried the similar technique with some shots from Kennington station (see a few posts earlier). Canary Wharf tube station, with it's expanse of space station-esque style architecture seemed to lend itself well to not only some flipping and stitching, but also to some nice black & white/spot colour stylings as well...

I think I need to set myself up a new Flickr set/collection for my various Potatoshop jiggery-pokery!

Join Me!...

Well, it was actually me that's been doing the joining... Of photos that is! It's been a sixth-form-nostalgia-a-thon over the few days, as I've finally vowed to actually piece together the joiner photos that I insist on taking but never seem to do anything with. I think these two of Canary Wharf were a success. What do you think?

There are others that I'm in the process of putting together as well. I have a great one of the plaza in front of Canary Wharf. It's amazing how much the perspectives change between the photos - It's been very tricky to line up! Stay tuned - Hopefully I'll be able to put a joiner specific flickr set together before too long.

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 14

It's been a while, but I've been out taking photos again around the city, and I feel well and truely back in the saddle. I went out with Amy from work on Wednesday night, and after a slow start (by me at least) I soon found my flow again. Considering this has been the worst July on record (surely!) we were blessed with a beautiful evening, and we made the most of it. Walking from the office, we headed down past St. Pauls, over the bridge and then turned left (instead of the more favoured right) and off towards docklands. There was plenty to see on the way, including an exhibition of large, wooden guitars by Tower Bridge. As well as getting some great shots, we also had a great laugh and a few drinks - That's what living in London in the summer's all about...




As always, there's a load more on Flickr.

As the old saying goes...

You wait ages for a train...


...And then two come along at once!

(Inspired by Dave Gorman)

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 13

I went out taking photos again on Thursday night with David from work. We went out straight from work, and wandered down towards St. Pauls Cathedral with a view to going up into the dome to take some aerial shots of the city. Unfortunately, it closes at 3pm which kind of spoilt our plans. Instead, we walked down towards the Tate Modern, and get some shots from over the bridge. We had a back up plan of trying to get some shots from up in the cafe at the Tate, but sadly that was shut as well! We settled for just walking up and down the river, taking photos and waiting for the 'Blue Hour', until it got dark and we really got started!...





There are a load more photos up on Flickr for those that are interested. Enjoy!